BIG changes in Scottish Labour’s Holyrood spin operation, with two new hires. Grizzled PR veteran Charlie Mann takes over as head of communications, having previously shilled for Labour favourites like, er, the benefits bogeyman Atos. In a Youtube interview from 2009, Mr Mann explained why he had joined one PR firm. “I was looking for a challenge,” he said, adding he was also nifty at “crisis management”. Scottish Labour sounds a perfect fit.

Catriona Stewart: Incel culture can only be tackled by reassessing masculinity

MEANWHILE, in the lower leagues, STV hack Aidan Kerr is also joining Team Red. Young Master Kerr, 23, was once a Nat Yesser but now seems precociously right wing. Indeed, he regularly sang the praises of Ronald Reagan on Twitter. That would be the same Republican icon Mr Leonard used to attack Nicola Sturgeon in February, slating her for “relying on Reaganomics”. Curiously Mr Kerr’s tweets on ‘the Gipper’ have just been deleted.

Tom Gordon: SNP learns the hard way that silence is not golden

IT doesn’t have any public profile, but the job of parliamentary liaison officer is a coveted one at Holyrood, as the holders often reach the cabinet. So you’d think Joe FitzPatrick, the minister for parliamentary business, would know who they are. But answering a question this week, he called one Mairi Evans. As any fule kno, the Angus MSP has been Madame Gougeon since last July. When her kind colleagues promptly nicknamed her chicken nugget.

LET the bells ring out! Holyrood has a Cross-Party Group on Music. No surprise about the convener. Nat Tom Arthur, formerly of wedding band Velvet Five, was a natural choice. The shock was his deputy: lugubrious Tory man-sloth Gordon Lindhurst, a man whose catchphrase is a dry pause. Wags are now likening the pair to various popstars. Mr Arthur is a sort of Pat Kane-shaped figure. While Mr Lindhurst is definitely “that bloke from Sparks”.

Kevin McKenna: Badly-judged SNP attack on UK backfires

BAD news for Andrew ‘Two Lobsters’ Liddle, the seafood-loving bon viveur who is Scottish Labour’s most improbable spin doctor. After repeated delays, his biography of Tory leader Ruth Davidson is finally on the cusp of publication. In other words, just in time to miss Ms Davidson’s world famous pregnancy. Still, anguish for Two Lobsters could be an opportunity for others. There are already rumours of a “Ruthyref” to capitalise on her maternity leave.

A SPINE-CHILLING moment during the latest Alex Salmond Show, as the Kremlin's favourite has-been interviewed “kiltmaker to the stars” Howie Nicholsby. Hailing the benefits of crotchless clothing, Nicholsby claimed it was “medically proven” that Scottish men are less likely to be impotent because they wear kilts. “So if you wear a kilt, you’re more potent?” asked Big Eck. “Yes,” insisted Nicholsby, winking. Shudder.